Studies have shown that strenuous exercise causes physiological stress and strain on the body. And without adequate time for the body to rest, recover and rebuild, injury or illness can result. That’s why experts agree that moderation is the key to safe and effective exercising.

According to the American College of Sports Medicine most healthy adults should workout 3 to 5 days a week, with no more than 2 days between workouts. Exercising an average of less than 2 days a week doesn’t result in any significant improvement in your overall physical fitness. But, if you exercise more than five times a week, you increase the risk of injury. That’s why 3 to 5 times a week is the recommended “course of action”.

You should take care to monitor the intensity of your workouts. Work your heart rate at 60 percent to 90 percent of capacity and exercise nonstop for 20 to 60 minutes. You can calculate your ideal training zone by determining your maximum heart rate, using the following formula: Subtract your age from 220; then multiply that number by the percentage of how hard you plan to work out. For example, the maximum heart rate for a 40 year old is 180 (220 minus 40 equals 180); 60 percent of 180 is 108, and 90 percent is 162. Therefore, the ideal training zone is a pulse rate between 108 and 162.

For nonathletes, or people who haven’t exercised in quite some time, the American Heart Association recommends working at a target heart rate of between 60 and 75 percent of the maximum rate. Older people or those in poor health should start out at the low end of the range, while better-conditioned people can start at the high end. And after 6 months or so, exercisers may want to increase up to 75 to 85 percent of maximum heart rate. Most people can stay fit working out at 75 percent of maximum heart rate.

Another key to safe and effective exercise is to “listen to your body”. Many times we may experience pain, stress or exhaustion from the whole body or from particular joints and muscles. The concept of ‘working through the pain” is, at best, foolhardy. To avoid injury, you must acknowledge and respond to pain and/or discomfort swiftly and positively. This means changing your pace or switching to another activity that uses different muscle groups, or stopping the activity altogether.

Here are some signs of a high-stress workout. The symptoms may indicate that an individual is exercising too hard, too long or too often, and should take the necessary steps to modify his or her exercise routine:

1) Muscle aches and pains 2) Muscle cramps 3) Pain in the feet, knees or hips 4) Generalized fatigue 5) Chest pains 6) Light-headedness or confusion 7) Loss of appetite Sleeping difficulty 9) Nausea or vomiting 10) Pale or bluish skin tone 11) Shortness of breath (lasting for more than ten minutes) 12) Palpitations

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